08 October 2011

Doodly squat

Meander #114
less than 5 miles in Folsom, CA.
Saturday, October 8th.

My sweetie has been having back and hip problems (for which he has had testing, and we are waiting on the results) so he was willing to indulge my desire for a ride with him, but not willing to go very far.

I removed my rant and replaced it with a nice trail picture.

So not too far we went.

It was a beautiful day, sunny and about 65 degrees. A perfect day for a ride. No excitement, no close calls, no falling down, just a good time.

After my last ride, I had decided it was time for a new chain (although it may not have been, but then I like supporting my local bike shop). So I rode today with a new chain. Worked great.

One is supposed to measure chain wear with the chain under tension. And the easiest way to do that is to apply a little pressure to the pedal, but not move the trike. Then you measure 12 sets of chain links which should come to 12 inches. Not 12 and a little bit.

Now, finding 12 inches of straight chain on a trike liberally decorated with chain tubes was not easy. Like, not possible. So I dug out some calipers and made my best guess across 6 inches of straight bare chain. And my guess was it was a little worn.

A worn chain will wear the cogs faster. And I can replace the chain myself, not to sure about the rear cassette! So I replaced all 12' 1" of chain.

Tomorrow should be as pretty as today, so I will head up to Beals Point, I think. Then a short ride or two later in the week and fingers crossed for good weather for Foxys fall century on Saturday!